Building Fluency with Poetry Books

Poetry is one of my favorite ways to help students build their reading fluency, develop a love of poetry, introduce new words, and build vocabulary. (Don't you just LOVE all the great words that Jack Prelutsky uses?!?  Amazing!  He is a model of word choice.) Anyway, I started reading stations this week and wanted to include a fluency option for my kiddos.  I decided to "steal" the idea of a good friend who teaches 5th grade in Washington.  Hence...student poetry books. (Thanks Lisa!)

This is my example.

The poetry books are simple and straight forward.  I folded two sheets of construction paper and stapled.  

Students decorated the front of their poetry books and wrote simplified directions on the back cover so that they don't have to interrupt my small groups.  Here are more detailed directions that I glued to the center folder.

1. Cut out poem and glue into poetry book
2. Read the poem to yourself silently 
3. Track your thinking.  Write 1 or more thoughts you have about the poem. (I think..., I wonder..., It reminds me of..., I figured out..., etc.)
4. Read the poem to yourself in a whisper voice.
5. Read the poem aloud to 3 classmates. Each person that listens to the poem must sign your poetry book.

This is an example of how kids track their thinking about the poem.

 When students are finished they have read the poem at least 5 times.  They are always amazing how much better they sound in the end.  At the end of the week, I will often use the same poem for a choral reading and the kids sound great because they have been practicing all week. 

This is my favorite station and my students. I love how easy it is to maintain and the students love reading the poems to each other. Plus, their fluency is really improving and they cheer instead of groan when we talk about poetry.  Everyone wins!